Semen Retention – Testosterone, Fertility And Female Attraction

January 7, 2023

Semen retention is an ancient practice that men use for increasing their power, masculinity, and spirituality. Can semen retention really give you benefits like increased energy, and power and even increase female attraction towards you? In this article, you will learn everything about semen retention benefits, what it does to your body, and how it can help you to become a more powerful man.

What is semen retention?

The phrase “semen retention” refers to the act of avoiding ejaculation.

Some people practice semen retention by abstaining from any sexual activity. In most situations, however, semen retention refers to the practice of not ejaculating. Many men who practice semen retention engage in sexual activity but do not ejaculate.

Sperm retention is not a new practice like the NOFAP movement. Semen retention is an old tradition that certain tribes may have practiced for thousands of years. Taoist sexual control strategies, for example, are founded on and built for sperm retention, which was believed to boost their life energy.

In tantric sex, mastering semen retention also involves learning to have an orgasm without ejaculating, which is referred to as a dry orgasm or mental orgasm.

Semen retention is also known as coitus reservatus, seminal conservation, and sexual continence (used mainly in study and science journals).

Semen retention meaning
To sum it up: semen retention means intended withholding of ejaculation.

Semen retention is preventing ejaculation on purpose to achieve certain advantages.

Benefits of semen retention

Semen retention advocates often describe physical, emotional, sexual, and even spiritual benefits. Some people may experience less stress and anxiety, while others may experience more motivation, confidence, and self-control. While there are several benefits to sperm preservation, various persons may benefit differently.

Sperm quality and fertility – One of the benefits of sperm preservation appears to be enhanced fertility and improved sperm quality in males. This has been found across several studies (studies below).

Sexual benefits – The most frequently claimed sexual benefits of semen retention are: increased sexual stamina, improved erection persistence after orgasm, increased sexual dreams, greater erection control, and higher body awareness. One clear advantage of semen retention is increased libido. You will find yourself enjoying women’s looks more. After prolonged retention, it’s typical that typical females become increasingly more attractive looking (for you).

Sport performance – As commonly known, multiple athletes are frequently practicing semen retention. Motivation for training is greatly increasing as you retain from ejaculation. This is why even the world’s greatest athletes commonly state that they avoid sex before important events and matches.

More attractive towards woman – Increased female attraction is another typical advantage of semen retention. If you begin retention, you will surely notice that ladies will ask you questions, compliment you, and gaze at you. At some retention point, you will eventually lose interest in sex, which will make you more appealing to women.

In general a man’s attractiveness is tightly proportional to how needy the man is. The less needy the man is, the more attractive he will be to women in general.

“A man’s attractiveness is inversely proportional to his neediness” – Mark Manson, author of Models: Attract Women Through Honesty and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Increase beard and hair growth – One of the most fascinating advantages of sperm preservation is increased hair and beard growth. Science hasn’t completely clarified this benefit, but far too many individuals have observed it, and it would be an offense to leave it out of this list.

Mental benefits – Other commonly reported experiences are reduced anxiety and depression, increased motivation, improved memory, focus, and overall cognitive performance, more potent immunity, and even better sleep. Those who practice sperm retention frequently report increased pleasure and life satisfaction. In a similar way to NOFAP, semen retention can stabilize dopamine levels in some men, which can lead to increased levels of positiveness, drive, and creativity

Other reported advantages include deeper voice, enhanced muscular development, and increased vitality. Improvements in relationship status, communication, and sex life are also frequently reported.

However, for most men these semen retention benefits, do not come instantly. It might take 1, or even 2 months to achieve some of these benefits. Others report feeling significantly more powerful after just 10-15 days of retention.

However, it’s important to remember that most of these advantages have not yet been shown by research.

Semen retention science

Do researchers studied the benefits of semen retention? Is there any study that has shown any real benefits to sperm retention? Here is list of studies that have examined effects semen retention. I will update this list when new studies appear.

Semen retention and testosterone levels

Does retention increase your testosterone levels and how long does it take to reach increased testosterone levels?

While the effects of retention and testosterone levels are an understudied topic. There are a couple of studies that have examined ejaculation and abstinence’s effects on hormone levels.

Chinese Retention study from 2003
When you search for testosterone and ejaculation, you’ll come across this famous 2003 Chinese study¹, where researchers intended to discover more about the relationship between ejaculation and blood testosterone levels in males.

In this particular study, researchers put participants (28 men) to voluntary abstinence after they ejaculated and measured their blood testosterone concentrations daily for 7 days.

The result comes down as followed:
Day 1 and 2 no notable increase. Day 3-4 noted around 15-20% increase. The magic started to happen on days 5 and 6 when testosterone levels went from 30% to almost 100% increase. On day seven testosterone levels peaked at almost 150% increase from baseline. On day 8 levels begin to fall quickly down to a 30% increase (from the base). Day 9 saw a modest increase, but day 10 returns it to a steady 25% increase from baseline. After 11-16 days those levels returned to normal and some even dipped temporarily slightly below the baseline. This is normal, as men’s testosterone levels are always fluctuating up and down in cycles.

This study mostly showed that testosterone levels seem to peak after 7 days of retention.

So if your testosterone peaks after one week of retention does that mean you should ejaculate once a week?

Not necessary… If you keep retention going you will still get a minor testosterone increase according to another study that we look at later. For some, one day peak of 150% gain and then going back to normal levels, is not necessarily better than ejaculating. It is largely depending on the situation and the objectives you wish to attain with semen retention.

For example, if you want to most amazing sex with some women with maximum levels of T. Then you might want to time your retention to around seven days from the last ejaculation.

Of course, some men want to have maximum T levels for important competitions and sports events. In that case, you also might want to time your last ejaculation to “the magic seven-day window”.

But for a regular guy who just wants the benefits of semen retention, is not essential to time or ejaculate every 7 days.

3-week retention study (2001)
Another research that is popular among semen retention advocates is this German study published in the World Journal of Urology.² In this study, researchers put 10 males to 3-week abstinence and recorded their hormone levels before and after 21 days of semen retention. Blood samples were taken during masturbation-induced ejaculation, before and after 3-week retention.

What were the outcomes?
During retention, scientists observed slightly greater blood testosterone levels (~0.5ng/ml higher). Depending on your testosterone levels, this equates to a 5% – 16% increase (to the normal range: 300–1000 ng/dl).

Once again, the orgasm did not affect the men’s testosterone levels. However, scientists saw that ejaculation resulted in a significant increase in prolactin levels, which interferes with testosterone synthesis. The prolactin impact usually fades within 20 minutes of ejaculation. Furthermore noting that the increase in prolactin occurred solely after ejaculation. Ejaculation also increased blood pressure, heart rate, and plasma catecholamines, according to the researchers.

Conclusions from the study: semen retention can marginally enhance testosterone levels. Ejaculation appears to have little effect on testosterone levels, although it does affect other hormones such as prolactin. Retention also increased arousal, adrenaline levels, and heart rate, according to men’s self-reports.

Retention fertility studies

Several studies explored the relationship between sperm quality and semen retention. However, not all studies, have reached the same conclusions.

Systematic review of all data on sexual abstinence (2018)
In this meta-analysis³, researchers searched deeply and examined all studies related to sexual abstinence, ejaculation abstinence, and sperm parametres that were published in the previous 37 years until the study. Only 30 studies were eventually accepted for final analysis.

What did science say about semen retention and fertility?

Retention and pregnancy rate
Pregnancy rates started to decline for individuals with retention periods longer than 10 days and increased for those with retention periods of less than 3 days. This is an interesting finding that might tell that men’s fertility might decrease if they retain over ten days.

Sperm concentration and count
Sperm concentration rose significantly when the retention period was extended to 4-5 days. After 7 days of retention, the highest total sperm count was noted. These outcomes are consistent with the prior study on testosterone. The best window for sperm count appears to be the same 7 days (as with testosterone levels).

Semen volume and retention
While most men already know this: your semen volume increases if you don’t ejaculate. Researchers noted: that there is strong evidence that semen volume increases significantly as retention time increases. During the initial four days of retention, the largest overall mean daily rise in semen volume was noted.

The optimal retention time for max fertility?
According to the study, the optimal time is somewhere between 2-4 days. After 10 days fertility might slightly decrease. Something between 2-7 seems optimal for maximum fertility.

Semen retention and female attraction

Does semen retention make women more attracted to you?

Does semen retention practice make a woman more attracted to you?
While it’s very common to notice increased female attraction while doing semen retention practices, it’s hard to know exactly why it tends to happen. Could increased female attraction be caused by increased fertility, testosterone levels, or from mental benefits that semen retention gives to men?

While many semen retention advocates tout that holding your semen will make women want you more. Still, there is no clear scientific explanation for why it’s happening. Yes, you can speculate with increased fertility, but according to science that is just a short-term benefit. Increased testosterone levels give just a short-term effect, so it’s hard to believe that either gives you the attraction benefits.

Maturation of sperm theory cannot either explain why women would feel more attracted to males who practice semen retention. While it’s true, that sperm takes around 70 days to fully mature. This can not be why women would feel more attracted to a man who holds their semen. Because sperm maturation will be happening in every man, whether they retain or not. Sperm that comes out during ejaculation has already matured. Every man holds plenty of matured sperm in their epididymis (cordlike structure located in the top of testicles where the sperm mature and are stored).

Why does retention make women more attracted to you?
Well, while you could speculate with different theories. I believe is a sum of all the benefits that semen retention gives. It’s the things that make you more attractive to women. For example, men who practice semen retention are experiencing more motivation to go to the gym and work towards their goals. They are happier and more social, and they tend to enjoy life more. Which is making them more attractive and women will notice it.

Learn more -> How to become more attractive to women

Are there any side effects?

There are no know harmful side effects from semen retention. However, there are some conditions can happen when you do semen retention.

Blue balls (Epididymal hypertension)
The term “blue balls” refers to an unpleasant testicular feeling that can develop when you are aroused and don’t ejaculate.

People who have blue balls may have the following symptoms: a feeling of heaviness, agonizing discomfort, or slight pain.

This is caused by blood accumulation in the testicles as a result of excitement.

According to studies, “Blue balls” is a harmless condition and very common especially in younger males.

Blue balls are a temporary hurting feeling in the testicles that should go away after the extra blood has flowed out from the area and blood pressure has returned to normal.

While it’s a harmless condition, some people might feel it extreme that you might need to ejaculate and end your semen retention in some cases.

If you don’t want to end your semen retention you can relieve blue balls with certain strategies.

For example, taking a cold shower is a good way to relieve blue ball pain. Going to the gym or exercising is also a great way to encourage normal blood flow in the body.

Getting blue balls while doing semen retention is not harmful, and any pain should subside when the individual has an orgasm or stops feeling stimulated.

However, if you are experiencing persistent pain or severe discomfort in the testicles, you should see a doctor since it might be a sign of some other medical concern.

Conclusion

Semen retention is a healthy and traditional technique that can boost certain men’s happiness and motivation. The most common advantages associated with sperm preservation include physical, emotional, and sexual advantages. Some men may experience reduced tension and anxiety, while others may have more motivation, confidence, and self-control. Studies have linked increased testosterone levels to short-term sperm retention. While there isn’t much scientific evidence to support semen retention, millions of men do it on a regular basis and appear to get many benefits. It may be a game changer for some people, but it just has a little impact on others.